Tag Archives: Georgia Signs

Five Points Grocery, Macon County

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Exterior view of Five Points Grocery with a Pepsi sign, surrounded by trees and a dirt road.

Five Points Grocery is located at a busy curve on Georgia Highway 26, and though I had passed it many time on earlier travels, I had never stopped until a recent trip to Columbus. As Mike McCall and I were photographing the little shotgun building, one of the co-owners, Naomi Weaver, waved and invited us inside. The store was closed that day for the preparations for a community wedding, but she was a gracious host, not rushed or bothered by all our questions.

Exterior view of Five Points Grocery, an iconic country store, located near Montezuma on Georgia Highway 26.

Naomi related that she didn’t know a lot of the specific history of the building, but I gathered it was likely built in the 1920s or 1930s. It would have been a retail anchor of the nearby Flint River Farms, a New Deal resettlement project that helped area farmers build homes and buy property in the darkest days of the Great Depression.

Naomi Weaver, in a gray sweatshirt with 'WHERE YOU BELONG' printed on it stands behind a counter filled with various items at Five Points Grocery.

It’s rare to find stores like this today, and even rarer to find them vibrant and still at the heart of their communities. While the owners have added a storage area at the back of the building, which Naomi was rightfully proud of, the interior of the store itself is largely unchanged from what it would have looked like over half a century ago.

Interior of a small grocery store featuring a display of various bread packages on a shelf, with a menu board labeled 'Mom's Kitchen' visible in the background.

Naomi noted that Mom’s Kitchen, which serves early breakfasts to scores of busy farmers and farmhands, was one of the biggest draws at Five Points Grocery.

Interior of Five Points Grocery featuring shelves stocked with snacks, a Pepsi vending machine, and seating area with blue chairs. A wall clock is visible.

This part of the store is reserved for anyone who just wants to sit around and shoot the breeze. In that way, it’s as authentic as any country store I’ve found. With the instantly gratified and hurried world that technology and mass market retail have wrought, it really is rewarding to come across places like Five Points Grocery and people like Naomi Weaver.

Interior of Five Points Grocery featuring shelves stocked with various food items and beverages, with taxidermy deer heads mounted on the wall.

This is deep in Macon County Mennonite country, and if you aren’t familiar, the Mennonites of Macon County have been known for their hospitality and good food for a couple of generations. Alva and Sara Yoder opened the landmark Yoder’s Deitsch House and Bakery just up the road toward Montezuma in July 1984 and its been a destination for people from all over the region since then. On the day we visited with Naomi, we also stopped at Yoder’s and it was packed as usual.

Interior of Five Points Grocery featuring a drink cooler filled with various beverages, a cash register area, a chair, and deer mounts on the walls.

Streetcar Crossing, Columbus

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A railroad crossing sign indicating an exempt status, on an old streetcar line, located in the Columbus Historic District.

This is the first time I’ve ever encountered a railroad crossing sign that notes an exempt status. This is due to the fact that an old streetcar line crosses here. Columbus once had a vast network of streetcars, or trolleys, and they were instrumental in the growth of numerous neighborhoods throughout the city.

Columbus Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Blocker’s Grocery, Long County

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This little building is definitely a barn today, but the screen door on the front indicates it may indeed have once been a country store. The signs identify it as Blocker’s Grocery. I’m not sure it was originally located in this spot, but it’s a great preservation of a bygone era, either way. I miss those old Sunbeam bread signs.

Church Sign, Long County

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I’ve always been intrigued by homemade signs, especially church signs. I photographed this one in 2010.

The Colonnade Has Defined Southern Comfort Food in Atlanta Since 1927 – And It’s Still Going Strong

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The Colonnade is Atlanta’s second-oldest restaurant, after Atkins Park. The Mid-Century landmark is a reliable favorite for comfort food and classic cocktails, beloved by locals and tourists alike. Not many other places can claim customers who have been coming in for over 70 years and employees who have stuck with it for over 50 years.

Established in 1927 by Frank Tarleton at the corner of Lindbergh Drive and Piedmont Road, The Colonnade moved to its present location at 1879 Cheshire Bridge Road NE in 1962. Longtime owners Jodi and David Stallings decided it was time to retire last year and sold the business to Lewis Jeffries and Paul Donahue, who plan on keeping things true to the formula that has made it such a success, retaining popular menu items and bringing back old favorites.

Fried chicken is the star attraction, but a wide variety of meat-and-three favorites is on the menu, including pot roast, served with mashed potatoes, carrots and English peas. Tomato aspic (not pictured) is also a classic menu item that’s quite popular.

The wedge salad is served with pickled beets, tomatoes, onion, bacon, and blue cheese.

The yeast rolls get their own plates…

The Colonnade is always busy but it’s worth the wait. And they don’t take reservations.

The bar serves classic cocktails, wine, and beer, and if everyone doesn’t know your name right away, they’ll remember you.

Top Ten Posts of 2024

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Wishing everyone a safe and happy 2025! It’s been another great year traveling around Georgia, looking for the obscure, as well as the well-known places and people that make our state so interesting. As always, I’m grateful to you all for coming along with me. From murder and mayhem (always popular for some reason) to soul food and some preservation success stories, I think I covered a lot this year.

#1- The 1937 Murders That Shocked Quitman

#2- Georgia State Prison, 1937, Reidsville

#3- Snow-Wasden House Saved from Demolition

#4- Jimmie’s Hot Dogs, 1947, Albany

#5- Maryland Fried Chicken, 1968, Albany

#6- Paradise Park Fishing Camp, Wayne County

#7- Sugar Ray Robinson Childhood Home, Circa 1910s, Ailey

#8- Boatright House, Washington County: An Update

#9- Harris-Turner House, Circa 1836 + 1903, Covington

#10- Savannah’s Last Historic African-American Theatre Faces Uncertain Future

Thunderbird Inn, 1964, Savannah

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This neon sign, lit up along West Oglethorpe Avenue at night, may be the coolest thing about the Thunderbird Inn, but the whole place has an amazing retro vibe, harking back to the days of roadside motels. As American automobile ownership began to increase in the 1930s, quaint motor courts with numerous tiny cottages began to fill the need for travelers. By the end of World War II, motels began to replace them, because they were less expensive to build and maintain, and because tourists demanded more convenience. Motor hotels, or motels, popped up on busy state and national highways all across the country. The Thunderbird Inn opened on the Coastal Highway (US 17) in 1964 and quickly became a popular Savannah destination. The Jackson Five even stayed here on their rise to fame. Savannah has changed a lot since then, but the Thunderbird Inn has stayed true to its origins, thanks to restoration and updates over the past 20 years. I’ve stayed several times, and it’s one of my favorite locations.

Savannah Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Maryland Fried Chicken, 1968, Albany

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I’m featuring this location primarily for its quirky modernist architecture and sign, and also, since it’s been open for nearly 60 years, it’s a true landmark.

Charlie and Vera King moved from Macon to Albany in 1968 and opened this Maryland Fried Chicken franchise on North Slappey Boulevard. According to the Albany Herald, Charlie had spent 20 years as an accountant for Sears and was ready to make a change. The owners’ grandsons now run the business, so it’s been in the same family throughout its history.

Maryland Fried Chicken was a chain of fried chicken restaurants founded by Al Constantine in Orlando in 1961. It had no association with Maryland other than the fact that a large number of Marylanders had recently moved to Orlando to work at the Glenn L. Martin Company aircraft plant and Constantine felt it would be good for business at his eponymous restaurant. The chain eventually had locations in 20 states and the Bahamas but went bankrupt in the late 1970s. Many of the franchise locations were successful and kept the name, as was the case in Albany, and a few are still open throughout the Southeast.

Jimmie’s Hot Dogs, 1947, Albany

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Jimmie Baltas (1889-1972) was a Greek immigrant who came to Albany by way of Lowell, Massachusetts. In 1947, he opened Jimmie’s Hot Dog right in the heart of the Harlem neighborhood. The sign proclaims it “The King of the Hot Dog” and it’s one of the oldest restaurants in town. According to the Albany Herald, Jimmie Baltas eventually sold the business to Phillip Poulos, who later sold it to one of his relatives, Sam Poulos. Sam had a falling out with his brother-in-law and business partner, which led to the brother-in-law opening a rival business, Hot Dog King. The Mathes family bought Jimmie’s from Sam Poulos in 1992 and continues to operate it today. It’s not a sit-down restaurant but is known for its quick service.

Al’s Barber Shop, Albany

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Al’s Barber Shop is just up the street from the old Harlem Barber Shop and is still a busy location. It has great window signs.